Calm After the Storm
by iflip4dolphins
Summary: They've won the battle, but at what cost? After the defeat of Zeromus, Rydia realizes where her heart lies - and, of course, is determined to deny it.


_Disclaimer: I wish._

_A/N: I don't even know. I just wanted to write some post-final battle stuff for these two. I'm pretty sure I've got some details wrong; it's been a while since I've played that part of the game. Here. Have some fluff. Enjoy._

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Rydia would have been mortified, but she was too preoccupied with everything else to even consider it. The battle had definitely taken its toll on them. Rosa was worn to a thread and had been unable to heal all of their injuries, and even if she had been capable, Rydia doubted that Cecil would have allowed her to take the risk. All the white mage had done after Zeromus's death was make sure that each of them were alive and preferably capable of walking before she'd collapsed into a boneless heap on the floor. Cecil carried her now, her head cradled against his shoulder, as they staggered back to the Crystal Palace. Kain walked close by the pair, ready to help if Cecil stumbled.

Rydia herself was injured, of course. Blood soaked through the bandages wrapped around her arms, she limped on an injured leg, and her entire body was battered and bruised from the mauling that Zeromus had dished out to all of them. Before Rosa had attended to her, sparks had exploded in front of her eyes whenever she'd tried to breathe, one of the many hazards of broken ribs. One of her hands dangled at her side, useless. She hadn't noticed the pain when the injury occurred, but now one futile twitch of her fingers sent spasms of pain up her arm.

When that pain had sent the world on a spinning, hazy ride, she'd immediately resolved to never move her hand ever again.

Next to her, Edge stumbled. Rydia nearly reached out for him, but checked herself just in time. Both of her arms fell imperceptibly back to her sides as the ninja regained his footing. The summoner sidled a bit closer to him, meeting his sidelong glance with one of her own. Even after Edge drew his eyes away to concentrate on more mundane things, such as where his feet were landing on the pitted surface of the moon, Rydia continued to watch him, worry darkening her eyes.

Out of all of them, Edge was probably the worst off. He cradled a broken arm to his chest, which was so bloodied that it made Rydia wonder if his armor had been effective at all; he winced when he breathed, though he insisted that it was only bruising and nothing more. Worst of all was the way that he moved – carefully, gingerly, as if every single little step brought him pain.

Her heart contracted painfully as he stumbled again, and this time she did reach out, tugging him back into balance by his good arm. As soon as he was steady, she let go, her fingers brushing against his skin just a fraction longer than necessary, sending tingles that had nothing to do with injuries up her arm. By the look that Edge shot her, his lips curling ever so slightly, he'd noticed.

They limped along in exhausted silence, so close that they were nearly touching, for what seemed like years. Several times Edge looked as though he almost wanted to speak, but, much to Rydia's relief, he did not. There was a conversation the two of them needed to have, and she would much rather be the one to instigate it. At least that way she might have some semblance of control over how it went.

"Here." Cecil's voice cut through the fog of her mind, and Rydia tried to blink it away as she looked up at him for the first time in hours. "We'll stop here for now."

"Oh, good," Edge quipped. "My feet hurt."

The joke - so horribly out of place – was nevertheless enough to bring a softening to Cecil's face, though he didn't smile. Rydia just closed her eyes, unable to appreciate the attempt to lighten the atmosphere. Pain that had nothing to do with her fragile ribs lanced through her chest. "Do you ever not make jokes?" she demanded softly.

"Only when the situation warrants it," he replied, just as softly. "I think we could all use some jokes right about now. Don't you?"

She looked at him flatly. "You know we won, right?" she asked acerbically.

Edge snorted. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters! Zeromus is gone. The world is saved."

"What better time to be joking, then?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

His faint smile broke into a wince as he cautiously lowered himself to sit down on a rock next to the cliff face that Kain and Cecil were setting up camp next to. Rydia followed suit, her shoulder nearly brushing against his as she sagged next to him. Predictably, it was Edge that broke the silence.

"So," he started, and Rydia winced. Nothing good ever came out of a sentence that started with 'so'. "I've finally won you over."

"No," Rydia snapped back automatically. Her cheeks would have flared in embarrassment, but she'd lost too much blood to bother wasting what she had left on something silly like blushing. "I was just… worried."

"Worried," Edge clarified, his eyebrow arching questioningly. She nodded. "Hell of a way to express being worried."

"You were _dead_." Her voice cracked. The world before her swam as water filled her eyes. "Rosa nearly didn't get to you in time and you were _broken _and _dead_. Yes, I was worried!"

She turned her head and swiped angrily at her eyes with her good hand. In her mind's eye, Zeromus pummeled them mercilessly… and Edge lay on the ground in a bloody, crumpled heap of broken bones. Her heart had nearly stopped - Rosa had managed to get to him just barely in time – and she had – she'd –

"Hey."

Edge's callused fingers caught her chin and turned her towards him. Her chin quivered; she clamped down on her tears, furious that it was Edge who was witnessing this. Furious that it was Edge who'd gone ahead and gotten so close to death that even Rosa had barely been able to revive him. Furious with herself for being so foolish as to kiss him when she realized that he wasn't dead. "I'm alive."

"Barely," she muttered.

"But I'm here," he pointed out with inescapable logic. "And so are you."

Rydia narrowed her eyes at him, suddenly suspicious. "Your point?"

He let go of her chin and grinned at her. "I like your version of being worried," he declared.

Despite herself, her lips quirked into the first smile she'd had in a while. "In my defense, I didn't expect to do that," she informed him.

"Even better."

"Why?"

The look on his face was positively devilish. "Because it proves that you've fallen for me."

And as Rydia spluttered denials, he reached out for her again and silenced her with a kiss.


End file.
